Fallen
by Judithan
Summary: In this stalemate of good and evil, there will be no survivor, and no surrender – only death and destruction. Give me whatever order you want, because no matter what you say, I'll stay by your side to the end. Eridave. Somewhat AU.


Fallen.

Summary: In this stalemate of good and evil, there will be no survivor, and no surrender – only death and destruction. Give me whatever order you want, because no matter what you say, I'll stay by your side to the end. Eridave. Somewhat AU.

Pairing: Eridan x Dave

Note: I'm not sure what I just wrote, but it's like some weird alternate timeline thing in where the kids are actually trolls and shit. I'm not even questioning my logic anymore.

(x)

There was blood everywhere. It wasn't surprising so much as it was unsettling. I knew I was walking into a bloodbath, but it still didn't help me calm down when I came across the figure in the middle of all of it –covered in an uncomfortable amount of blood, breath ragged, and eyes wide open. If I hadn't known better, I might have squatted down and tried to shoosh-pap him into submission, but I knew the tools of his trade, and I knew how dangerous it was for me to even be in the same room.

The pink and green blood everywhere told me I should have left the moment I even saw him, let alone approach him. I was stupid and stubborn, though, and I couldn't resist the chance the return the favor he always did for me – dealing with a volatile asshole who's about to explode or has just gone off.

"Eridan?"

His gaze stayed steady, but it was clear from his body language that he heard me clear as day. Legs sprawled out in front of him, back against the wall, and blood staining his clothes, I wasn't all that surprised to find him in a kind of comatose state. I placed a hand against the back of my black hair, ruffling it as I tried my best to assess the situation.

'What a mess I've gotten myself into. He's going to owe me for this.'

This stupid, royal pain in my ass always did have a way to make my life hell.

"Eridan, come on, we need to get out of here." I didn't want to make it sound like I was even worried, or even remotely concerned, but I'm sure he could tell I was internally panicking. Yes, Striders could panic. It wasn't an often occurrence, but when it came to psychopathic murdering clowns and rainbow drinkers running loose, I'm sure the gods would cut me a little slack and say 'damn, what an awesome ass kid for staying so cool all the fucking time. Let's give this little fucker a goddamn gold star, because not even an average Strider can stay that swag so often.'

This wasn't the time for fairytale interpretations of how the gods –with all their cruel intentions and secret loathing of all populations- saw me and my tendencies.

"Come on, Ampora, this isn't the time to be going limp on me – we need to leave. Can you hear me?" My voice was raised, and I was crouched over at this point, staring him straight in the eyes. Suddenly, he looked straight at me, instead of off into the distance like he had been. It might have startled me, if not for the fact that I had gotten used to the wacky antics of this group of motherfuckers long ago.

"Wwhy? Wwhat happened?" He was slow to start talking, but at least he was finally responding. I couldn't muffle the sigh of relief as he did answer me, only to become the slightest bit irritated in his actions. Did he really have no clue as to what he just did? Was he honestly so dense that he couldn't open his eyes and see the blood that was spilled on his hands and all over the walls?

"You… you know what you did, right?" I tried to laugh, but it only came off as awkward and uncomfortable. This royal piece of shit really was a handful, and I was in no mood to deal with him.

"No… did I do something bad? Did I…" At this point, he looked around the room, and was disgusted by the blood bath that it was home to. "Did I do this? Is, is everyone okay?"

I couldn't tell him the answer, but I didn't have to. He looked solemnly to the floor, and could only mouth an 'oh' before returning his gaze to me. In that second, I knew that he understood, and he understood that we had to leave. Despite how much shit I'd give my fucking Matesprit, he really was rather intelligent when it came down to it.

"We need to leave, Eridan. Gamzee's gone on a rampage, and I think he might come here." Eridan stared at me for the briefest of moments before giving me an understanding nod, and attempting to find his footing. He slipped and slid, but eventually got his balance. After a few steps, it became apparent that his left leg was not willing to work properly, and I promptly placed his arm behind my neck, slipped my arm around his waist, and helped him to walk. He muttered something that sounded like a begrudged 'thank you', and I could hardly acknowledge it.

He was a murderer, a culler, and I was helping him.

It wasn't too weird, in all honesty.

We walked through a good majority of the space between the blood bath and the teleporters before we began having difficulties –namely him throwing up. Unbeknownst to my trained Strider eyes, he had been hit by Kanaya's chainsaw before she had ran away to who knows where after being hit by a –supposed- kill shot to the stomach. The jagged injury across his chest wasn't enough to bring up red flags from the outside, but it was enough to cause blood to seep into the prince's lungs. He choked up a disgusting, thick, purple liquid, the majority of it hitting the floor, but a mist of it did wind up on our shoes as well as pant legs. I shuddered in disgust, but knew that there was nothing I could do about it, now.

"Sorry…" He said, giving me a sad smile before retching again, more of the purple slosh pooling onto the floor.

"Are you alright?" Even though I wanted to play cool and pretend that I was fine with everything, I was genuinely concerned for my Matesprit's health. It may have been a foolish thing on my part, but I did love him very much – so much it nearly tore my heart apart seeing him like this. To think, Strider's had hearts! Truly, modern medicine would be impressed to hear.

"N-not really… I don't think I'm going to make it." Arms placed on the wall to support himself, he was practically sobbing –whether it was from the taste of his own bile, or the pain from whatever wounds he had, I was unsure. Either way, he was a mess, and I had no way of knowing how to fix him.

"Yes you are, Eridan, don't think you aren't." I was so uncool in this moment. So entirely un-fucking-cool, but like hell if I could be bothered to care. There was a fine line between staying cool and being a machine, and I wasn't about to become some heartless bulgesucker just to satisfy some sentient being that was pulling at my strings.

He began to wobble, and before he could find himself sitting in his own mess, I was able to shift him over a bit so that he was only sitting next to it, his legs sprawled out in the same fashion as when I had found him.

A terrifying scream and a succession of honks drifted through the air, and I became frighteningly aware as to where we were – right in the middle of Gamzee's rampage. I tried to get Eridan up, but he wouldn't budge. He was limp, almost lifeless. Pulling at his arm again, I began to fret, as he simply looked up at me with sad eyes.

"My knight, it's okay, you can leavve me here." His eyes were filling with his translucent, purple tears. I quickly wiped them away as they fell to his checks. He nuzzled lovingly into my palm, and a pang of sadness hit me – I didn't let it show, however. I never let my sadness show. It was occasions like this that made me regret having the involuntary poker face that I had.

"No it's not, Eridan, I won't leave you." I didn't care how stupid I sounded, but fear had engulfed me after I hadn't been there to save my moirail, Rose, from nearly getting blown to pieces, so there was no way in hell that I was letting anything happen to Eridan.

"You havve to."

"No. Even if you give me an order, I'll disobey it. I won't leave you here, you stupid fucking fish boy prince."

"Davve, you havve to savve yourself."

"No, I'd rather die with you." I was being stupid and stubborn; both traits Bro taught me were pointless and unnecessary. Eridan looked at me with a concerned scowl.

"The session needs you. It doesn't need me." He looked to the ground, his eyebrows furrowed, tears falling freely onto his shirt. Another honk resounded through the air, but we both tried to ignore it.

"No."

"Leave!"

"No, you stupid prince, I will not leave you." Yet another honk filled the air, only this time, it sounded dangerously close. He brought me in close, hugging me with all the strength he could muster up. The purple blood seeping through his shirt stained the teal omega symbol on mine, but I couldn't be bothered by it.

He was dying. I could do nothing to stop or slow it.

"Davve, you need to leavve – I still havve my dream-self. I'll see you again." Words hushed, almost whispered, I could tell he was having trouble breathing, and all I could do was hold him tighter. My heart nearly stopped at the sound of another honk, getting closer and more threatening.

"You promise?" Even though I knew he was just saying this to try and save me, I allowed myself to fall for it. Giving him one last, longing kiss, I stood up. I wiped my shirt off, getting my hands stained with his royal blood. He gave me once last sad smile before turning his gaze away. I could tell he was hiding something, but I didn't press it. I never pressed him.

I always trusted him. Maybe I shouldn't have.

"Yes."

Without another thought, I began to walk away, grabbing my sword from my Sylladex in order to prepare for any unpleasant surprises hiding around the corners. The handle of my sword was quickly stained with the residue blood left on my hands, and I couldn't help but curse a little under my breath – I hated the feeling of being constantly reminded of my failures.

Just as I rounded the corner, I heard the haunting echo of a hollow chuckle, followed by the last words my Matesprit ever uttered;

"I fucked up bad, didn't I? I'm sorry… Davve…"

_Honk_.

(x)

Yeahhh, uhhh, pretty much all I really wanted out of this was to write some slight gore, as well as a sadstuck scene of Eridan slowly dying in Dave's arms.


End file.
